“Congratulations on the winning participants for passing the fifth round, now deploying barrier and gathering ambient qi for participants’ recovery before the fourth round starts. Time of recovery, two hours”
With the cold, emotionless mechanical voice resounding across the place again, the spectators, as well as the participants still on the field calms down, the audience discussing who has more potential to win this competition again, while the participants try to make the most out of their time to recuperate, one among said participants is Lei Xing, who seems to take a significant toll from doing what he previously did.
Hatred filling his eyes, Lei Xing look towards a young man with an immortal-like appeal, the thought of crippling, or even killing him as a way to repay the humiliation he had suffered from him previously running in his mind.
‘I really hope I would not meet this bastard immediately…’ he thought in his mind as he leaves it all to his luck, ‘doesn’t matter anyways, I’ll defeat him before he could even use his artifact’ he added, full of confidence that he can defeat the young man before he could even attack using his ‘artifact’
Feeling the ill intent directed towards him, the immortal-like young man didn’t even look at the one staring intensely at him, just focusing on absorbing the abundant ambient qi gathering in his stone platform, all while using some kind of device made from a jade token, lights coming out from said device projecting images, one where people send message to each other.
“Ah Chen loses, five times consecutively at that”
“Damn, you really know how his mind works, Sheng.”
“They’re like a pea in a pod after all”
“Leng Yue, dear, do you mean two peas in a pod?”
“Wang Sheng shut up!! Who’s your dear!?”
“Now, now, Yue. I think there’s nothing wrong with what sis Yue said Brother Wang, you’re half a pea, and Huo Chen is also half a pea”
“That hurts!!! Bing Xue, how can you say that towards me!? Am I still your sweetheart?”
“Who’s the sweetheart of who??”
Reading the conversations, the immortal-like young man, Wu Xiaotian, found out that two of his sworn brothers, the ones still in the competition previously, met each other in a match, which was settled through an intense battle of rock paper scissors, with Wang Sheng winning overwhelmingly, not even leaving a single point for Huo Chen to claim.
As he jokes around with them, the three older ladies also join the conversation, poking fun at the two young ladies whenever they get flustered by the shamelessness of their ‘childhood friends’, Ling Feng sulking in envy as he shouts in his mind his desire to get a lover for himself as well.
“Anyways, have you seen Lei Xing’s match, Tian” interrupting the jolly atmosphere, Li Yan sends another message, clearly out of consideration for Wu Xiaotian as she was worried he couldn’t deal with the technique Lei Xing previously used.
“Yeah, I saw it, is it the first time he used that? Any idea on what that was?” despite his True Sight Technique, the thing Lei Xing previously used is not displayed on it, hence Wu Xiaotian doesn’t have any concrete ideas on what it was, however he had some guesses, one among them the fact that Lei Xing transforms into some sort of lightning spirit.
“No idea at all, this is the first time that he shows that, in the public. You have to be careful if you face him, Brother Su” Hong Lian replies, confirming Wu Xiaotian’s speculation.
“Thanks for the concern, Sister Lian” Wu Xiaotian answered to Hong Lian’s concern.
“I think I read about that in one of the records from our place, that seems to be the natural form of the Lightning Spirit Physique, able to freely control the lightning elemental qi around it” Hua Xian’er gives a rough explanation based on what she remembers from what she read, surprising the entire group as even Li Yan, the oldest among then, never encounters such a peculiar physique like that in her entire life.
‘Hong Lei really hid it well huh…’ Li Yan thought to herself as she never expected that cowardly thing to even plan like that, even taking advantage of her lack of interest in anything Purple Lightning Temple related to nurture a genius like that.
Shrugging those thoughts off her mind, she started typing a message once again, expressing her worry for Wu Xiaotian.
“Will you be alright if you fight with him dear?”
“Nah, there’s no problem Yan’er, I’ll definitely win” Wu Xiaotian replies with absolute confidence, as if it really is something like Hua Xian’er described, he has multiple ways to deal with such troublesome method, and even if its not, just his raw strength alone makes so much of a difference, and he is still confident that he can deal with Lei Xing without any problem.
“It’s good if it’s like that” Li Yan sighs from relief as she reads her husband’s answer before typing her reply.
After chatting for a bit, the group eventually stopped as the ones already in the audience area don’t want to bother the ones still participating too much, hence they decided to let the ones still in the competition to recuperate while they blend around and discuss their ideas to the people also on the spectators’ area.
After the two-hour grace period ended, the stone platforms start rumbling again, moving from their places as they randomly matched the combatants around, most of the remaining people hoping not to encounter Lei Xing after the show he just did previously.
‘No way I would like to go up against someone like that’
‘Please, anyone but Lei Xing, even that young man who suppressed him last time is fine’
‘Don’t pair me with that guy, don’t pair me with that guy, don’t pair me with that guy’
Same thoughts echoed from the participants all around, even placing Wu Xiaotian’s danger level beneath Lei Xing’s, which some thinking the idea completely makes sense, given that Lei Xing doesn’t even transform into that lightning revenant when he was suppressed by Wu Xiaotian.
“Now beginning the sixth round, lifting the barrier” as the stone-cold voice of the mechanical announcer resounded, all of the remaining one-hundred and twenty-eight participants’ muscles stiffens, their entire being prepared for the battle they are about to fight, some of them despairing when they saw the opponents they are about to face, some of them smiling at joy, some of them looking with excitement.
As soon as the barrier separating the stone platforms were removed, the people matched by the random matching system approaches each other, some rushing to end their matches quickly while some slowly checking their opponents out, cautiously assessing them.
“I surrender!!!” two voices came out from different people, one of them wearing a purple robe, facing another man wearing a purple robe as well, while one of them is wearing barely any clothes, a tall young man with only his lower body covered.
“I hope you have a smooth sailing further into the contest, Senior Brother Lei” the young man cupped his hands before the stone platforms of him and his opponent separates, earning a nod from the other young man as he goes towards the spectators’ area.
Meanwhile, the other young man who just surrendered looks at his opponent with terror in his eyes, hoping the stone platform he is standing in to leave the premises immediately, afraid that the young man in front of him might really kill him if he stands there any longer.